SPOILER ALERT 'Gretel Wins the Jackpot' is a frothy German comedy, if that's not an oxymoron. Interestingly, the premise of this film anticipates the very similar premise to Preston Sturges's 'Christmas in July'. But Sturges's film is funnier and more plausible.
Pert actress Lucie Englisch plays Gretel, a young stenographer with a tyrannical boss. Today is Gretel's birthday, and she delays her morning commute for a simple celebration while she expresses hope that maybe her lottery ticket will win today's big drawing. She pauses for some innocent flirtation with a local cabaret musician, played by handsome young Hans Brausewetter. As a result of this brief dawdle, Gretel is late for work. The supervisor orders her to report to the boss's office for disciplinary action as punishment for her idle dawdle.
While Gretel is kept waiting in the anteroom, she checks the lottery number in the morning paper. Amazingly enough, the number on Gretel's ticket is exactly the same as the winning number in the newspaper ... *except* for the last digit. In an idle doodle (to make up for her idle dawdle), Gretel uses her stenographer's pencil to alter her ticket, changing the last digit from a 3 to an 8 so that she has the winning number. This scene is directed so that we understand Gretel is engaging in wish-fulfilment; she isn't really planning to defraud the lottery.
Gretel's boss (amusingly played by Jakob Tiedtke) is greedy as well as cruel. He discovers that Gretel has the 'winning' ticket. At this point, the movie borrows a plot device from the Smith and Dale comedy 'What Price Pants'. Pretending not to know that (he thinks) Gretel has won the lottery, her boss straight away offers Gretel a partnership in the firm ... providing that any 'windfalls' which come to her will be invested in the company. After Gretel leaves, the office boy overhears the boss exclaiming over Gretel's lottery winnings. The office boy notifies the newspapers ... and suddenly Gretel is a celebrity for winning a lottery that she hasn't actually won.
SPOILERS COMING. If Gretel hasn't got the winning ticket, who does? Ach du lieber, now here comes the coincidence. Remember that cabaret kapellmeister? Jawohl, he's got the winning ticket. Since he and Gretel already like each other, and since he is now wealthy with his *genuine* lottery winnings, the happy ending is obvious. And Gretel's boss is made to look an idiot.
'Gretel Wins the Jackpot' is enjoyable, and the director maintains a brisk and entertaining pace. But there are no surprises here, and nothing special. It's nice to see that Germany's film industry could spin such candyfloss in the last months before Hitler solidified his power base. I'll rate this little trifle 6 out of 10.
Pert actress Lucie Englisch plays Gretel, a young stenographer with a tyrannical boss. Today is Gretel's birthday, and she delays her morning commute for a simple celebration while she expresses hope that maybe her lottery ticket will win today's big drawing. She pauses for some innocent flirtation with a local cabaret musician, played by handsome young Hans Brausewetter. As a result of this brief dawdle, Gretel is late for work. The supervisor orders her to report to the boss's office for disciplinary action as punishment for her idle dawdle.
While Gretel is kept waiting in the anteroom, she checks the lottery number in the morning paper. Amazingly enough, the number on Gretel's ticket is exactly the same as the winning number in the newspaper ... *except* for the last digit. In an idle doodle (to make up for her idle dawdle), Gretel uses her stenographer's pencil to alter her ticket, changing the last digit from a 3 to an 8 so that she has the winning number. This scene is directed so that we understand Gretel is engaging in wish-fulfilment; she isn't really planning to defraud the lottery.
Gretel's boss (amusingly played by Jakob Tiedtke) is greedy as well as cruel. He discovers that Gretel has the 'winning' ticket. At this point, the movie borrows a plot device from the Smith and Dale comedy 'What Price Pants'. Pretending not to know that (he thinks) Gretel has won the lottery, her boss straight away offers Gretel a partnership in the firm ... providing that any 'windfalls' which come to her will be invested in the company. After Gretel leaves, the office boy overhears the boss exclaiming over Gretel's lottery winnings. The office boy notifies the newspapers ... and suddenly Gretel is a celebrity for winning a lottery that she hasn't actually won.
SPOILERS COMING. If Gretel hasn't got the winning ticket, who does? Ach du lieber, now here comes the coincidence. Remember that cabaret kapellmeister? Jawohl, he's got the winning ticket. Since he and Gretel already like each other, and since he is now wealthy with his *genuine* lottery winnings, the happy ending is obvious. And Gretel's boss is made to look an idiot.
'Gretel Wins the Jackpot' is enjoyable, and the director maintains a brisk and entertaining pace. But there are no surprises here, and nothing special. It's nice to see that Germany's film industry could spin such candyfloss in the last months before Hitler solidified his power base. I'll rate this little trifle 6 out of 10.
